Youth should participate in political process: Sushma Swaraj

Raipur: Expressing concern over youth getting cynical about the political system and democracy, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Monday said that youth should bring about change by participating in the political process.
"I am deeply worried to see the present scenario of politics in the country. Today, the biggest challenge is that people leading the young generation make the youth lose faith in democracy," she said, addressing the state-level convention of Chhattisgarh`s Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) which began on Monday at Vivekanand Parisar in New Raipur.

"They (referring to the new youth leadership) say that the whole system is corrupt and distorted. But I like to remind the youth that if democracy dies, then dictatorship is bound to occur and you should not allow that to happen," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

She said the youth could bring about revolutionary changes in society through democracy and BJYM workers should tell the youth to participate in the democratic process. They should attach themselves with ordinary people, she said.

Presently, though youth organise themselves and assemble at places by using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it lacks leadership, she said.

"All those who lead them say that the system is corrupt and encourage them to go against the democratic process...It is a challenge before young party workers to go and tell the youth to exercise their voting rights in order to bring about change by participating in the democratic process," she said.

Attacking the Congress for Home Minister Shushilkumar Shinde`s "saffron terror" remark, Sushma said, "The saffron colour is a symbol of our traditions, culture and sacrifices. Linking saffron with terrorism is like bringing down the dignity of Indian culture and sacrifice."

"The power of saffron can be seen at the Mahakumbh, underway at Allahabad, where three crore devotees took a holy dip at the Sangam on Mauni Amavasya yesterday. This was the power of Hindus which is being called terrorism," she said.

If the Centre has names of some former RSS and BJP workers allegedly involved in terrorist activities, it doesn`t means that the entire organisation can be labelled as a terrorist group, she said.

"Several Congress leaders including Mahipal Maderna, Gopal Kanda, Suresh Kalmadi and several others are involved in criminal cases, but we never said that the Congress is a criminal organisation," she said.

Mocking the Congress for its dynastic politics, she said that the youth have ample opportunities to rise in politics within the BJP, since the prime minister`s post is not reserved for one family in her party.